The boy in the last compartment
by slythadri
Summary: AU OOC EWE. After the war, a lonely Slytherin returns to Hogwarts because he has no choice, he is on probation. He's sure everyone would hate him and he will be alone and miserable. Or maybe a Gryffindor girl will have the courage to offer a helping hand? Mature content for language and possible sexual situations. An unusual pairing, Dramione and a hint of Hansy.
1. Chapter 1

The boy in the last compartment.

On September first, 1998, a lonely eighteen-year-old boy dragged his trunk to get on the Hogwarts express. He was going back because he had no choice. He had barely escaped a sentence in Azkaban and returning to complete his last year of school was a condition of his probation. The Ministry wanted him where they could keep an eye on him. Gregory Goyle walked with his head low, eyes on the floor. Hogwarts was a thousand times better than a cell in Azkaban, but to him, it would be a miserable place. He was warned to not stick with his old friends, as that make the Professors and Members of the Order that were inside the castle nervous and the would give him a harder time. He was not trusted and he could be easily accused of collusion. Not that he had really anyone to talk to. His friend Vincent was dead, by his own fault, yes, when he started that stupid fiendfyre that ended up killing him; Draco Malfoy had been more like a boss than a friend, and he had sent Greg a polite letter explaining the conditions of his own probation and how their interactions would have to be limited to avoid trouble. They would not be in the same rooms anymore, because Draco had been offered a Headboy badge, which sounded like a reward instead of a punishment, but the reason was that the Headboy and Headgirl were in constant contact with the Headmistress so it was actually a way to keep Draco under constant surveillance. So Draco would be sharing private quarters with non-other than Hermione Granger, who had been named Headgirl. So Greg would be going back to the Slytherin Dungeons, and would probably be the only other eight year Slytherin. Most of his classmates decided to fly the country to other schools or simply drop. That was not an option for him.

Greg found an empty compartment on the train and sat. by the time the train rolled, he was still alone. A few people peeked into the compartment and quickly backed up when they saw him. he sighed, resigned to his new faith. He was never liked in school, but people had never dared to be openly hostile with him because they feared him. For a minute he thought about that and the realization made his eyes prickle with tears. Before he could fall into a well of self-pity he heard a female voice. One that he knew well. One that he had secretly coveted for years.

"Oh for Merlin's sake do you have to be a freaking prefect to find a seat on this train?"

Ginny Weasley was having a lousy day. He was freshly dumped by Harry Potter, who had finally grab hold of his balls and told her that he didn't want to be in a relationship and that he was going to join the Aurors instead of going back to Hogwarts. Her brother Ron had dropped too to join George at the joke shop. And her best friend Hermione was now Headgirl and nowhere to be found. She had a funny feeling about her friend and the Ferret. They had been communicating before school started about head duties and were way too polite to each other at King's Cross. With her head in a buzz, she peeked into Greg's compartment and saw it occupied by a Slytherin but did not really registered who before she just kept moving.

"You can sit here," yelled Greg, who couldn't stop the words from coming out.

Ginny backed up and looked inside the compartment, confused

"If you're not scared. No need to be scared…" Greg mumbled lowering his gaze and blushing, mortified.

Ginny lifted an eyebrow and walked in, taking a seat in front of him, arms crossed.

"I'm not scared of you, Goyle," she said huffing.

"I know, I mean, people kinda hate me, you know, like fear me and stuff and I don't want them to…" he said, still looking at his shoes, his face burning, eyes prickling.

Ginny felt her heart cringe. She had never talked to Gregory Goyle before. She thought he was just a big, mean oaf attached to Malfoy's hip. At that moment, Hermione and Draco walked by the compartment, apparently looking at to do lists and planning things. They slowed down almost to a stop to add a few notes in the parchment they were looking at and Draco whispered something in Hermione's ear that made her crack laughing and swat his arm playfully, then they kept walking. Ginny watched the interaction and then looked at Greg, who was staring out the window. He looked miserable. Ginny decided no harm should come from chatting a bit with him on the train ride. She had nowhere else to be after all.

"You know, they may not let us back on the house teams. McGonagall thinks we should give the chance to younger students. I thought I was going to be team captain but they gave it to a sixth-year…"

Greg looked at her, perplex

"But I just bought a new broom. A Firebolt 2…"

He looked so deflated that Ginny regret being the one dropping the news on him.

"Maybe we should suggest that we are allowed our own team. You know, the 7th and 8th years from all houses. There are not many of us. We could do only friendly matches to serve as spar training for the house teams."

Greg's face lightened up.

"That would be amazing. We could be some sort of All-Star Team"

Ginny laughed at that. The change in Greg's demeanor at her comment warmed her heart. Maybe it was possible to forgive and move on. Maybe those on the wrong side of the war need to be offered a helping hand.

At that moment the trolley witch arrived.

"Anything from the trolley dears?"

Greg jumped to his feet, giddiness written on his face.

"Give me a cauldron cake, some chocolate frogs, one box of Bertie Botts' every flavor beans…" he stopped for a second and looked at Ginny, who was smiling at his childish enthusiasm. "You know what, just give me two of everything you have. And add ten chocolate frogs. I'm sharing with my friend" he said, beaming and sounding like a five-year-old. Ginny laughed.

"I think we can share just one box of Bertie Botts' every flavor beans. No need to find multiple ear-wax flavored ones" she said making a face.

Greg laughed and nodded enthusiastically. He gave the witch way too much money and told her to keep the change. Then he sat next to Ginny and poured all the candy between them on the seat. She laughed and conjured two bottles of water form her backpack.

"We're going to need this. And some sort of hangover potion after the sugar rush."

They ate a lot of candy, talking enthusiastically about Quidditch, and making plans to invite people to join the All-Star Team. Ginny munched on a chocolate frog while discussing the perfect line up, without shutting up to chew, and suddenly Greg looked at her and snorted a laugh, water coming out his nose.

"What?" Ginny asked irritated.

He tried to stop laughing but couldn't, so he mimed to his mouth and gasped

"Chocolate teeth" and he kept laughing, unable to catch a breath.

Ginny was mortified. She probably looked like her brother Ron right now, and for some reason, she didn't want to look uncool in front of this boy, who was actually paying her attention and being nice to her. She pulled a mirror from her backpack, performed a teeth cleaning charm and tried to regain some composure. She looked at him, smirked, and pulled a handkerchief from the bag

"Well, you just snorted a mix of water and candy through your nose" and she reached to clean his face with the handkerchief.

He froze. Ginny Weasley, the Gryffindor chaser, the girl he loved to watch fly by him every game was touching his face, looking at his mouth. He blushed. She felt back in control and with one last look she said

"Done." Then she poked his nose with one finger and smiled.

Greg felt like the world stopped turning and then started again. The truth was Millicent Bulstrode had the habit of snogging him every time there was a party in the dungeons and he had some alcohol in him. That was ok because he was to shy to approach any other girl. But now he really, really wanted to kiss Ginny Weasley. He just didn't know how to get to that. It seemed like an impossible feat.


	2. Chapter 2

When the train arrived at the Hogsmeade station Ginny picked up her backpack and levitated her trunk. Then she saw Greg carrying his heavy trunk.

"Why don't you levitate it?" she asked casually

Greg blushed

"I can't. I know is Wingardium Leviosa, but it just doesn't work for me."

Ginny tilted her head and her times with the DA kicked in. she had helped loads of young students with their charms. She stood next to him.

"Pull out your wand. Show me how you do it."

He was embarrassed but complied. He tried the spell but was shaking his hand too hard. Ginny put her hand on top of his and softly guided him through the swish and flick movement. He felt like his hand was burning and did not get it the first time. Ginny smiled and moved his hand one more time, then told him to move it on his own. He tried to remember the feeling of Ginny's hand in his and performed a perfect swish and flick.

"Now say the incantation"

"Wingardium Leviosa," he said, imagining that Ginny's hand was guiding him. The trunk floated in the air, ready to be pulled anywhere. Greg felt a knot in his throat. He looked at Ginny, who had a satisfying smile.

"A lot of people fail to do the charms because the professors do not notice their hand movements and do not correct them. Is good to have a peer tutor to guide you slowly through the movements."

"Thank you, Weasley. Thank you so much" he said, his deep voice cracking a bit.

"You are welcome. And call me Ginny, if you don't mind me calling you Gregory."

"Greg."

"All right, Greg," she said, smiling while she walked out of the compartment.

When they got off the train Ginny sprinted towards the carriages. She just saw Draco helping Hermione on to a carriage and no one else was with them. She tried to catch up but the carriage just went off. Ginny gave Hermione a "what the fuck" gesture with her arms. Hermione shrugged and yelled

"Sorry, Heads carriage. Is supposed to wait only for the two of us," she said giving an apologetic shrug, while Draco smirked and wiggled his fingers in a mocking goodbye. Hermione swatted his arm and he pulled out his tongue, earning him another swat.

Ginny turned around and found Greg standing next to her, looking sheepish. She complained loudly

"Can you believe those two? They are not Heads they are big heads. 'Oh look at us we are the head boy and head girl, we are fucking school royalty" she said in a mocking tone of voice that made Greg chuckle. "And isn't Malfoy your friend? Who do they think they are?"

Greg blushed at that

"Me and Draco are not supposed to interact much. Because of the probation. They will be watching for collusion. We don't want any trouble."

Ginny felt a ping of guilt and tried to think of what to say.

"Well, Malfoy is head boy, so he shouldn't be restricted to interact with any students. I'm sure the school will be a bit more understanding that those old farts from the Wizengamot. And you won't be interacting with him alone unless you guys go and lock yourselves in a broom closet. Especially if Malfoy is going to be spending a lot of time with Hermione. Her word is worth gold. So I guess as long as you guys don't go hiding in the usual making out places of the castle you should be fine."

Greg smiled. Ginny had a way to make things look simple. He hadn't felt so at ease in a long time.

When they got to the castle and went to the Great Hall, Greg went straight to the Slytherin table. Ginny saw that Hermione had brought Draco to the Gryffindor table. People were staring at them but Hermione looked nonchalant and Draco was a mask of indifference. They kept talking like this was not unusual behavior. She looked back at the Slytherin table and saw Greg sitting in a corner, alone, staring at his plate. His expression was sad. Ginny sighed and thought that she could catch up with Hermione tomorrow. She stood in front of Greg.

"Mind if I sit here?"

He looked up, his expression brightening. He motioned for her to sit. She smiled and began filling the plate in front of her.

"So I'm guessing tonight the two big heads are too busy with the new students, but maybe tomorrow we can catch up with them, tell them about the All-Star team? They can help us put a word with McGonagall."

"So you think that is really possible?" he asked, nervous about interacting with professors. It had never been his forte.

Ginny gave him a determined look

"It has to work. I cannot not play this year. I'm going to try for the Harpies next summer, this is the year I should be playing the most."

Greg looked impressed.

"Wow. That is so cool."

Ginny tilted her head

"What about you? are you not going to try for any teams?"

Greg blushed. He never even considered it. He was so used to see himself as a failure at everything that it didn't cross his mind that he was really good at something.

"I don't know. Should I think about it?"

"Of course you should. You are scary as hell as a beater. Maybe clean up your act a bit, you know, watch it with the fouls, but otherwise, I think you have a great arm."

He smiled like he just won a million galleons. This was something he could actually do. A very real possibility.

"All right then. Tomorrow we talk to Draco and Granger to help us put a word."

The next day Ginny walked into the Great Hall for breakfast and saw that this time Hermione and Draco were sitting at the Slytherin table. Greg was not there yet. She looked back at the hallway, hoping that he would come soon. Hermione gave her a 'what are you waiting for' gesture and Ginny held up her hand as a sign to wait. Greg came running and smiled widely when he saw Ginny standing there. She smiled back and pointed to Draco and Hermione, that were now staring at them, confused. They took a sit in front of the heads.

"Good morning your majesties," said Ginny with a mocking bow and a hand flare.

Greg chuckled and mumbled "morning"

Hermione tried to ask "how the hell did this happen" in a polite way but couldn't come up with anything, so she just gestured between the other two. Ginny faked naiveté

"Oh, us? We met on the train yesterday, got high on sugar and made friends."

Greg only smiled shyly, buttering a piece of toast, his ears burning. Ginny rolled her eyes

"Hey, Greg offered me a sit in his compartment and I had seen you two being all lovey-dovey and thought maybe I too can give the whole love thy enemy a try, ok? And so far so good, we had a pretty chill time yesterday."

Greg was very grateful for Ginny's support, so he tried a bit of courage

"We got kind of kicked out of the house teams, they want to have the younger students play. So we need your help. We want to ask McGonagall for permission to form our own team, the older students team. We can play friendly matches against the house teams to help them improve. But we really need to play. Me and Ginny, we are trying for pro teams in the summer. We have to play." He looked flustered and lowered his gaze. He had never demanded anything from Draco Malfoy and he was secretly scared of Hermione Granger. He waited to be chastised.

Hermione and Draco looked at each other, impressed.

"That's a great idea," said Draco

"Absolutely, players from all houses together, is a great way to promote house unity, and we really need that," said Hermione.

Greg beamed

"We're calling it the All-Star team."

Ginny grinned, nodding enthusiastically.

Draco rolled his eyes at that but still nodded, face in a smile.

"I think we should support you guys," then he turned to look at his former roommate "good for you, Greg, seems like you found yourself better friends that I ever was," he said sincerely.

Greg blushed and said

"You're all right, Draco. But Weasley here is like very nice and, you know… pretty"

They all awed and laughed, none of them would have ever in their wildest dreams imagined this soft side of Gregory Goyle.


	3. Chapter 3

That same morning all four students had Charms for their first class. They all walked together, chatting animatedly, making plans to convince McGonagall to let them form the All-Star team. When they made it to the classroom and walked in together Professor Flitwick looked at them with curiosity. The two Gryffindor girls were all smiles for the two Slytherin boys, who were now pulling their desk chairs for them. This time last year they would have been ready to rip each other's heads off. He made a mental note to tell McGonagall as soon as he saw her.

"Good morning everybody," said the little professor, "as we all know we had a very disrupted year, so for the first two weeks we will do a review of charms, from first-year to sixth. If you feel that you know too well then please look up for your classmates that may need your help. Please pair up. Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy please circulate the room observing all students. You may choose other students to be tutors too."

The Heads went to work, and Ginny simply stayed with Greg. The boy actually knew all the incantations, but he was clumsy on his hand moves. That's why he is a beater and not a seeker, thought Ginny, lending him a helping hand to demonstrate the moves. It was the absolutely best hour of Greg's life. The beautiful redhead witch pretty much kept her hand on his the whole time, as they went through the list of first-year charms, and Greg, who until now had been capable to perform only about half of them was suddenly doing it smoothly. He felt elated. For the first time in his life, he was actually liking school because he was succeeding at it.

From the other side of the room, Draco watched them for a bit. He felt an enormous wave of gratitude towards Ginny. For years he had treated Greg as a hired hand, but he did consider him a friend. When the boy had failed at school Draco had let him drown, just to make himself look taller. He had been an arsehole. And now, out of nowhere, these two Gryffindor girls had come to the rescue, even though there was nothing in it for them to gain. Granted, Hermione had to share duties with him, but she seemed to be enjoying herself. But Ginny had absolutely no reason to help Greg, and yet there she was, literally holding the boy's hand. And his friend had a smile in his face like he had never seen. He decided that he was going to make the whole team idea happen. That was settled.

The next class for Greg was remedial potions. It was one of the things that embarrassed him. Draco and Hermione were assigned tutors there too. This time, Hermione decided to put attention to Greg's process. She was curious about him after seeing him make very fast progress in charms. The Slytherin boy was standing in front of a cauldron, book open, looking flustered. He had not even picked up his ingredients from the cupboard. He was running a finger over a line on the text over and over again; comprehension dawned on Hermione. She approached the very tall boy and signal for him to lower his head to talk in his ear.

"Do you find it difficult to read the lines?"

The boy held back tears.

"They kinda mix up, I can't keep them straight."

Hermione felt her heart cringe. Greg had dyslexia. That's why he failed almost everything. She thought for a minute. Then she smiled and performed a charm on the book, so it would read itself out loud.

"Here, use your wand to point to the beginning of the page, it will read it out loud, and you can say 'slow down' or 'repeat' if you need more time."

Greg opened his eyes like saucers, nodded and gave it a try. After a few minutes he had collected the right ingredients from the cupboard and by the end of the class, he had brewed a decent potion. He was ecstatic. When the class was dismissed he impulsively ran and grabbed Hermione in a bear hug. She squealed in surprised and everyone got on guard, but he was saying loudly

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

She laughed and patted his arm, flustered

"Of course, Greg, anytime." Then she composed herself, smiled and walked away with Draco, who was also beaming.

Ginny stood next to him, watching her friend go, and she quipped

"I helped you in Charms, and I didn't get a hug."

Greg lifted her on a big squeeze. She squealed, laughed and shouted

"Put me down you big bear."

Right before lunch, the Heads had a meeting with the Headmistress to report on the first half of the first day. They walked into her office and found Flitwick talking and gesturing animatedly.

"Oh speaking of new friends, here they come," the professor said, beaming

McGonagall gave them a smirk and offered for them to sit. They reported on all that happened and told her about the team. She was not sure if that was necessary, but the Heads told her about their friends plans to try for pro teams, and the Headmistress understood the urgency.

"Very well then. The students from the seventh and eight years may try for the team and they will receive priority if they plan to try for professional teams. Then you two need to come up with a schedule so they can have matches against the house teams without interfering with the house cup."

The two heads assent, excited, and after being dismissed ran to the Great Hall to spread the news. Ginny and Greg were sitting at the Gryffindor table, next to a very uncomfortable Neville Longbottom, who had not wrapped his head around Hermione being friendly with Draco and now had big oaf Goyle sitting across from him while Ginny chatted nonchalantly. When the heads arrived and gave them the good news, Greg and Ginny yelped loudly and hugged each other, then high-fived the Heads. They all then proceeded to explain the whole situation to a confused Neville, who was still taken aback but he had to admit that the two Slytherins were treating the girls like princesses.

After lunch, Greg walked to the greenhouses for remedial Herbology. When he walked in he saw that Neville was the tutor for the class and waved enthusiastically. Neville was baffled but managed to give a little wave back. When they needed to gather equipment Neville saw Greg offer to carry heavy stuff for the girls in the group, giving shy smiles all around. The Gryffindor thought that maybe Gregory Goyle had just been a shy kid like himself, and did as told by whoever was his friend at the time. But now he was acting of his own accord and he seemed eager to make new friends. So Neville decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

That night at dinner, Ginny asked for permission to address the hall. McGonagall agreed. Ginny signaled for Greg to stand next to her and he obeyed, although he felt incredibly self-conscious. But he would do anything that made Ginny happy. These had been the best two days he had since he was a little kid.

"Hello, my name is Ginny Weasley and this is Gregory Goyle. We have been players in our house teams for a long time but now we were asked to give room for a new generation of players, and we are glad to do it." The younger kids applauded.

"But playing is important to us, as we plan to try for professional teams next summer. So we have been granted permission to form a senior students' team. So, if you are a seventh or eighth-year student from any house and want to join the All-Star team please talk to Greg or me and we will hold trials next Sunday at 2 pm. We would give preference to those who plan to try to go pro."

The senior students cheered enthusiastically. Ginny gestured for them to wait a bit.

"The All-Star team will play friendly matches against the house teams but we won't compete for the house cup. However, it will be a great experience for the house teams to go against experienced players, it will improve your game a lot. If you are a senior, we hope to see you at trials and we hope to see the rest of you our friendly games. Thank you."

The hall exploded in cheers. This meant more games to enjoy through the year. After dinner, some seniors shyly approached them, excited about the news. Ginny was recognized as captain of the team and she and Greg would plan for the trials. They needed two more chasers, one more beater, a goalkeeper and a seeker. And Ginny wanted to play a bit with Greg to make sure he cleaned his tactics to avoid people reacting negatively to him. the Slytherin old way of playing was to cheat without getting caught. He needed to change that strategy into a clean but powerful game. Those words sounded great to him. That night he lay on his bed, beaming and too excited to fall asleep. When he finally dozed off he dreamed of Ginny Weasley holding his hand and kissing him.


	4. Chapter 4

Later that week Ginny and Greg went to the pitch after dinner for a bit of practice. When they walked out of the locker rooms Greg was very excited to fly his brand new Firebolt 2. He then saw Ginny holding her old Cleansweep 260, unfazed. He felt bad. They flew for a bit and he was mesmerized on how good Ginny was despite her old broom. But she could definitely use more speed. He signaled for them to land and he ran to the locker rooms. He then walked out carrying his previous broom, a Nimbus 3000 that he had almost not flown. He was used to having lots of money and not think twice about discarding things, so he just left the Nimbus abandoned in the locker room last year and then the war came. Luckily despite the pitch burning most in the things in storage were protected by charms so many things like brooms and Quidditch trunks had been rescued.

"Here, try this. Is my previous broom, but I almost didn't use it."

Ginny beamed. She mounted the broom and hovered cautiously first, making sure it had suffered no damage. The broom was in pristine condition. She then grinned at Greg and yelled from above

"Come on, Big Bear, show me what you got!"

And she started a crazy race through the pitch, flying around the hoops, under the bleachers and making some crazy dives. Greg was hot on her heels, a huge smile on his face, cheering excitedly

"Come on Weasley, punch it, or I'll knock you off that broom"

Ginny grinned maliciously and pushed forward at top speed. Greg was riding a faster broom but she was a better flyer, if only by a little bit. After some time they landed, and Ginny rolled on the grass, exhilarated.

"That was awesome, I feel fucking great!" she yelled.

Greg rolled next to her, laughing and howling. She stood and went to give him back the Nimbus. Greg shook his head no.

"It's yours. You can keep it. We need you to be the best in the team."

She yelped and jump onto his arms. He caught her easily because his frame was so much bigger than hers, but he almost fell back because of the surprise. When he put her down he was flustered like a chicken in a windstorm. He tried to say something funny

"You're welcome, mate," he said, punching her arm a bit too hard. Yikes. Not smooth. She yelped but returned the punch, laughing. She grew up with six brothers. She was used to roughness.

That Sunday they held the trials for the All-Star team and got two Ravenclaws, two Hufflepuffs and one more Gryffindor to play with them. Greg was the only Slytherin but Draco promised to play any position if they needed a replacement player. He would join them in practice whenever his head duties allowed.

That past week had been the beginning of a new life for Gregory Goyle. He would wake up every morning, happy to be at Hogwarts, and put himself very neatly together, just the way his pureblood mother had always wanted him to do. Then he would go up to the main hallway and wait for Ginny Weasley to come down the stairs from Gryffindor tower. He thought that she looked like a fairytale princess coming down for a ball. He would offer his arm, just as his mother had taught him, and walked her to the Great Hall for breakfast. Then he would sit with his old friend Draco and his new friends Granger and Longbottom, and have a nice chat before going to class. He was not embarrassed about taking remedial classes anymore because he was actually learning this time around.

At night he would sit with Ginny, Hermione, and Draco in the library to do homework. Hermione had taught him how to charm his books to read themselves out loud and then how to cast a muffliato spell so he would not bother anyone with the noise. When Draco noticed how much effort he was putting on his homework he bought him a quick-quotes-quill so he could dictate his homework on the parchment instead of fighting to write it. His grades improved so much that the headmistress called him to her office one day. He was nervous about it, thinking he might be in trouble.

McGonagall explained that both the teachers and the Heads had noticed his improvement and he explained that Granger had detected his dyslexia and then they all teamed up to provide him with tools to make his studies easy. The Headmistress smiled. It was the first time he ever saw the woman smile. Then she told him that she wanted him to be a peer tutor too, patrolling the remedial classes to try to pinpoint the difficulties other students have and maybe think of possible solutions based on his own experience. Greg felt a knot on his throat. He never thought he could be considered a useful member of the student body. He gave the Headmistress a big smile and said he would get to it immediately. When the boy walked out McGonagall felt a prickle of tears in her usually stoic eyes. The war was definitely over and the young people that survived it had a chance at a new life.

For the next few weeks, Gregory Goyle was a busy bee. He had classes, where he was finally doing ok. He had tutor duties, and he helped identify at least fifteen kids that could use all kinds of tools to improve their school work. When he didn't know what to do to help he would ask Draco and Hermione and they all would come up with a plan. The hardest test for him came about a month into the term, when the young Auror in training Harry Potter was invited to do a short Defense Magic seminar. The heads, prefects and all the peer tutors were called to the Headmistress office to meet with the Young instructor. Those who had been part of the DA were comfortable with Harry as a mentor, but for Draco and Greg, this was a strange situation. Harry knew about Draco as a head and he offered his hand to him first when he saluted the lead students. Greg was standing behind everyone else, used to that because he was so tall and also because he was very nervous. Each student said if they were prefects or tutors and briefly explained on what. When he got to Hermione, Neville, and Ginny he hugged them instead of shaking hands. Greg felt his heart sink when he saw the Chosen One hugging the girl of his dreams tightly. He did his best to keep his head high, just as he had learned in the last month. Harry looked surprised when he got to him but quickly composed his face and extended his hand. Greg took it and said

"Hello, Potter. I am the learning disabilities tutor. I help identify kids with learning problems because I have been there myself. Please let me know what I can do to help."

Harry was very impressed and thanked the Slytherin sincerely. Then he was very surprised when they all sat together for dinner. Harry had to sit at the staff table, which felt odd, but that gave him a chance to look at the Gryffindor table, where Neville and Greg were animatedly talking, Hermione and Draco were obviously flirting and Ginny was paying way too much attention to Goyle. He felt a ping of jealousy but he also felt very disconnected from Ginny. She was now just another sibling like all the other Weasleys were his brothers. He just felt protective of her. But somehow big buff Goyle looked…harmless.

The next morning the tutors were having a short private session with Harry to see where they stood on their defensive charms. The Slytherins turned out to be brilliant Occlumens and Draco was actually a scary good Legilimens, plus their _Protego_ charms were like stone walls. All byproduct of their pureblood upbringing and their murky times during the war, but all very useful. However, neither of them knew how to produce a Patronus. They were both nervous when Harry explained it, the old notion of Death Eaters not being able to do it stuck in their minds. Draco tried first. He concentrated on a memory of his mother carrying him in her arms after his first flight on a broom.

" _Expecto Patronum_ "

A silver otter slowly came out of his wand. Draco was mesmerized but he didn't know why the otter, he had never thought about otters in his life. Hermione blushed beet red and Harry, Ginny and Neville gave her malicious smirks.

Then it was Greg's turn to try. He felt more confident after seeing that Draco, who actually had a Dark Mark in his arm, was able to produce a Patronus. He was nervous but tried to think of a happy memory. The one that came to his mind was the broom race with Ginny on the pitch the day he gave her the Nimbus 3000. He smiled and took a deep breath.

" _Expecto Patronum_ "

Slowly, a very big mist came out and took the shape of a bear. The bear looked at Ginny and gave a silent howl. They all broke in applause and cheers. When the mist dissipated Ginny gave him a bouncy hug

"That was awesome, big bear"

Harry took a deep breath, comprehension dawning on him. Times had changed. A lot. But in all honesty, it seemed to be all positive.


	5. Chapter 5

The Quidditch season that year was spectacular. The house teams were terrified of the All-Star team so they practiced harder and longer than it had been usual in previous years. The senior team did their best to not show too much aggression in the field but they were unbeatable. Ginny had molded Greg from an attack beater to a defense one and made him focus more on his flight and the protection of his teammates and less on the strength of his arm. He was 6'5" and over 200 pounds of pure muscle, so strength was not a problem. Teamwork was his focus. And he did well.

The rumors about an All-Star team at Hogwarts quickly reached the Daily Prophet, so the friendly games started to attract a big crowd. Scouts from all professional teams came to Scotland to see the young ones play. Good old Ludo Bagman was scouting for the Wimborne Wasps and when he saw Gregory Goyle walking into the field with his bat in his hand he pointed and yelled

"Now that is a beater"

McGonagall rolled her eyes at the gaudy man but felt proud of her students, who had created this opportunity for themselves. The way Gregory Goyle had carved the possibility of a brilliant future instead of rotting in a cell in Azkaban was a monumental achievement.

After the game, which the All-Star won despite the fact that the Hufflepuff seeker caught the snitch, Ludo Bagman approached Greg and pulled him aside, effusively congratulating him and straight up offering a trial season with the Wasps when he finished at Hogwarts.

That evening when they were all sitting at dinner Greg came in last. He looked in shock. The others got concerned and asked what happened. He answered, staring blankly

"I got offered a trial season with the Wasps."

The others took a second to react and then cheered and howled and caught him on a big group hug. Greg broke into a mix of laughter and sobs. Hermione and Ginny cradle him between their arms until he calmed down. Neville was smiling brightly and Draco kept some semblance of composure but he had a knot in his throat, immensely happy for his friend. When Greg felt more grounded he realized that he was squeezed between two pretty girls and he actually had his face buried in Ginny's bosom. He took a few deep breaths, so they all thought he was still sobbing, but he was actually inhaling Ginny's scent, feeling drunk. Hermione let go first and Ginny stayed for another minute until it got a bit awkward and they all sat straight, talking some more about Greg's great achievement. He kept up with the conversation as good as he could, but his head was buzzing. Getting a trial season with the wasps was worth a million galleons. But feeling Ginny Weasley's warm bosom was priceless.

A couple more months went by and the Yule season was approaching. Greg had not had the guts to make any obvious moves on Ginny and was very frustrated with himself. His position as a tutor and the news of his offer from the Wasps had given him an unexpected popularity. The young Slytherins were a fan club of sorts, much to the friendly chagrin of Draco Malfoy, who was the Slytherin Prince no more. He had been debunked by the up and coming Quidditch star. Many fourth and fifth year girls from all houses kept stealing looks at the impressively big jock. He got an anonymous box of chocolates one Saturday morning when the owl mail burst into the Great Hall. He was about to munch on one when Draco ripped it from his hand and brought it to his nose. He smelled books, his mother's favorite tea, and Hermione Granger's perfume. With a smirk, he passed it to Hermione. She sniffed and smelled new parchment, freshly mowed grass and Draco Malfoy's cologne. She was somehow able to contain the flush coming to her face and told Greg

"These are spiced. Amortentia. You got yourself a secret admirer."

Greg blushed but Ginny turned beet red with anger. She focused on her food for the rest of the meal, incapable of uttering a word. As soon as she was done she picked up her things and ran towards Gryffindor tower and didn't come back out all day. Greg felt lost.

Ginny paced her room, fuming, tears pooling in her eyes. It was lucky her roommate was nowhere to be found because she couldn't bear the idea of anyone seeing her like this. She huffed and puffed and she wanted to blow the castle away. Back when she had feelings for Harry it had always been like she was somehow waiting for him, if not straightforward chasing him. But Greg was attached to her like a rescued puppy. He actually was more like a rescued bear cub, she mused. But the point was, her days now started with her coming down from her dorm and finding Greg waiting for her with a huge smile, just so he could walk her to breakfast. It was a great way to start the day. Then the last thing she would see before going up to the tower was Greg waving goodnight and smiling. Greg was extremely cool with her, and more attentive than any other boy had ever been, but he had not expressed anything with words or tried to kiss her or actually hold her hand. He would only offer his arm. Every day. Maybe he was just shy, but what if one of those simpering bitches in his fan club actually managed to slip him a love potion and Merlin forbid give him a hand job or something? Then he would attach to her, whoever the little minx was, and she would lose him. Angry tears rolled down her face. She had no idea how to handle this.

Later that day, at the Heads quarters, Hermione was sitting on the couch of their little common room, trying to read, feeling flustered. The Amortentia in those chocolates made her face the truth: she had a massive crush on Draco Malfoy.

Draco was in his room, taking deep breaths, trying to decide between fight or flight. He was a Slytherin. Self-protection was paramount. But the love potion had spoken loud and clear. He didn't want to graduate and then go marry a simpering pureblood girl fresh out of Hogwarts. He wanted Hermione Granger. And she was not going to wait for him to grow a pair. So he walked out of the room, resolved. He sat next to her, a bit too heavily. He immediately felt his resolve slip so he grabbed for it before it was all gone.

"That was funny, you know, Greg and the chocolates."

She felt her ears burn but answered

"Yup, funny"

Draco took a deep breath.

"I knew it when it didn't smell like chocolate. It smelled like books, tea…and you."

Hermione looked at him, wide-eyed. He felt courageous and asked

"What did you smell?"

She lowered her eyes but answered

"Freshly mowed grass, new parchment…and you."

He put a soft finger on her chin to make her look up. She gazed into his grey eyes and swallowed hard. He approached slowly and pillowed his lips on hers. She stayed there, allowing it for a few seconds. Then she pulled back, looked him in the eyes again and something sparked in her own eyes. She pushed him and pin him down on the couch, then climbed on top to straddle him and kissed him like her life depended on it. It took him a couple of seconds to realize what was going on, but then he pulled her flush on him and couldn't control the way his hips rolled at the contact with her. That movement made her sit up; she forcefully ripped his shirt open, then took off her own top and unhooked her bra, throwing everything on the floor. He immediately grabbed her breasts and sit up to kiss her passionately before latching for dear life onto those delicious mounds. She ground herself desperately on his lap, rubbing herself on his rock hard erection.

"Hermione, don't, I won't hold…"

"Aaah Draco I'm coming, fuck, I'm coming"

He latched onto her breasts again and felt his cock pulse with relief, not caring about his ruined trousers.

He laid down and pulled her with him, leaning her on his chest. She tried to catch her breath. She was starting to feel embarrassed by her incredibly forward actions when he said

"Fuck Hermione, you are even sexier than in my dreams."

She chuckled and held him tighter. This was just a preview of the smoking hot sex that she had fantasized of having with him.


	6. Chapter 6

Greg spent all Saturday fidgeting, anxious. He knew Ginny had to be mad, even though it was not his fault that someone sent him a love potion. Right now he didn't care if he was blamed or not, he just wanted Ginny back. He could not bear the thought of her avoiding him, being angry at him. He kept putting his head between his knees to breathe.

He wanted to ask Draco what to do. Draco has had girlfriends, he had kissed girls, he was rumored to be a sex god. He would know what to do. But Draco was nowhere to be found.

A bit before dinner, after a whole day of sweating bullets he decided to walk outside and his feet found the way towards the greenhouses. He saw Neville there and waved. Neville smiled and waved back.

"Hey, Nev. Need some help?" physical work sounded like a good idea right now.

"Absolutely. I'm turning the soil from the plant beds and is better to do it without magic. Are you up for it?"

Greg nodded and rolled up his sleeves. They worked for an hour or so, mostly in silence. Neville could see what was going on with Ginny, but he didn't have a grip on how Greg would handle this type of situation, so he waited to see if the Slytherin wanted to talk. When they sat for a water break Greg asked

"How do you kiss girls?"

Neville coughed his water. He was never the recipient of such inquiries, he was just now coming out of his own shell. Greg saw him choke and quickly tried to fix it

"Sorry, I just happened to notice that you hang out with Abbot. It kinda looked like you guys kiss and stuff" he said blushing.

Neville smiled. It had taken him all term but he indeed had been in a few dates with Hannah Abbot and they had very much kissed and some extras. Before Hannah, he actually had a brief thing with Luna Lovegood and lost his virginity to her but that was all Luna and then she left to go hunting for magical creatures. So this was Neville's first experience chasing someone.

"Yes, we are actually dating," he said with a smile. "I couldn't get myself to say anything but then it occurred to me to say it with flowers. That worked for us."

Greg smiled. His mother had tried to teach him about that, it was a common courting ritual among purebloods. Maybe he could give it a try.

"Do you think Ginny knows, you know, flowers?"

Neville shrugged.

"I'm not sure. She is a pureblood but the Weasleys are different. And they are a bunch of brothers and then Ginny, I don't know if her mom would have time to teach her."

Greg looked disheartened. But the Neville suggested

"Try sending her a bouquet with a note explaining the meaning. Or a copy of a book page that explains it. There are some books here, we can take a couple to look at during dinner and you can pick your feeling, then I'll help you set up the bouquet" Neville said with a smile.

Greg got very excited. This could be his way out of the hole. The two boys walked to the Great Hall and saw that none of their friends were around. They didn't dwell on it, simply sat and Greg charmed the book to read him the descriptions of the flowers. They were already done eating and Greg was feeling confused."

"She's so many of this things. How do I choose?"

Neville gave him a reassuring shoulder squeeze.

"Pick two or three. We'll make a beautiful bouquet and pin the copies of the pages to it. Trust me, I'm good at that kind of stuff. I was raised by my grandmother."

Greg got back to work and then chose. The two boys went back to the greenhouses and put together the bouquet, then Greg ran to the owlery and sent it before running back to the dungeons to make curfew.

Meanwhile, in another part of the castle, a curly brunette witch and a certain platinum blonde wizard had spent the whole day naked between the expensive sheets of his bed.

"You are quite the snob, Malfoy," she quipped. "Regulation school sheets too plebian for you?"

He smirked while he ran his fingers through her curls.

"Are you telling me that your skin is not loving the feeling of these sheets?"

"Right now my skin is loving the feeling of your skin. Here or on the bare floor, I don't care as long as I can have more."

He smiled and kissed her, running his hands over her soft curves, elated

"Fine, I'll tell the house elves to change this sheets for the regulation ones."

"Don't you dare! I am officially spoiled now, and it is all your fault."

He chuckled.

"Well your majesty, we may need to change your sheets for some more of these, so you can invite me to your bed," he said climbing on top of her, ready for more. At that moment they got interrupted by a beeping sound. Draco yelled

"Fuck! I have hallway patrol tonight. Why, Merlin, why tonight of all nights?"

She laughed. Skipping was not an option, Draco needed to keep a flawless record because of the probation. So she suggested

"Go do your duty, I'll be here. Naked. Thinking of you. I can't promise I won't start again without you though," she said with a smirk.

He flopped on his back, huffing

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" then he stood up and quickly got dressed, then leaned to kiss her passionately. "Don't you dare go anywhere. Here, some reading material," he said with a wink, tossing her a book.

"Delta of Venus? Nice. You are a naughty boy…"

He stopped at the threshold to look at her.

"You have no idea."

Back in Gryffindor tower, Ginny was exhausted. She cried for hours, unable to control her anger and jealousy. Then she spent a few more hours dwelling on her situation. Should she make a move? What if Greg rejected her, especially now that he had an actual fan club and half of the girls from the school liked him?

Her head kept running in circles until it got interrupted by a knock on the window. She looked up and there was an owl there. She opened the window and the owl dropped a beautiful bouquet of flowers in her hands, then flew away. She was in awe. Then she noticed a folded letter tied with a beautiful red silk ribbon. She smelled the flowers and smiled, then opened the letter. It was a copy of a page from a book.

 _Hydrangea_ _symbolizes heartfelt emotions. It can be used to express gratitude for being understood._

 _Red carnation symbolizes love, pride and admiration_

 _Tulip_ _signifies a declaration of love. It also symbolizes fame and perfect love._

Then below that, there was a note written in the straight writing of a quick-quotes-quill

 _You understand me like no one does._

 _I admire you and you make me proud._

 _One day you will be famous and I hope I will still be in your life._

 _I'm in love with you._

 _Greg._

Ginny snapped like a rubber band, throw her robes on and ran out of the dorm. She was running down a hallway when a male voice called

"Oi! Stop right there! Is past curfew."

Se turned around and saw Draco running towards her. He had not recognized her yet. She ran to him and grabbed him by the collar.

"Ginny? What the hell?"

"Malfoy, please, get me into the Slytherin dorms, please."

He smirked, comprehension dawning on him

"Come on," he said looking around for prying eyes and grabbing her wrist before running towards the dungeons. When they got to the entrance he said the password and guided her through the common room towards the rooms. He stood in front of the door of Greg's room and said:

"Go on, make us proud." Then kissed her forehead and left.

Ginny knocked on the door, but there was no answer. She pulled out an extendable ear. She could hear a soft snoring inside. She unlocked the door with an _Alohamora_ and tiptoed inside. Greg was asleep, breathing peacefully, one muscular arm over his head. When she cast a soft _Lumos_ she saw that he was shirtless. In fact, he seemed to be completely naked under the sheets. She decided to go for broke. She took off her robes and undressed down to her cotton panties and cami and then called softly

"Greg"

He moved a bit but didn't open his eyes. She called again

"Greg"

He spoke in his sleep

"Ginm. Ginm, mmlove you"

She smiled and climbed on the bed. Then she leaned in to pillow her lips on his. He opened his eyes suddenly.

"Ginny!"

"Hi"

"Dream. I'm dreaming. Right?"

She smiled and shook her head no, then climbed on top of him.

"I got the flowers. They made me very happy. You make me very happy."


	7. Chapter 7

An hour earlier Greg had returned to his room, took a shower and felt too tired to put on pajamas so he locked his bedroom door and got in his bed naked. He immediately crashed. He was deep asleep when he started dreaming about Ginny. He could hear her voice calling his name and in his dream, he told her that he loved her. She kept repeating his name and in his dream, she kissed him. It felt so real. He could feel her breath on his lips. He felt her lips sucking softly on his. So real. So so real. Then his eyes sprang open. He saw Ginny's bright eyes looming over him, and he smelled her sweet scent.

"Ginny!"

"Hi"

"Dream. I'm dreaming. Right?"

She smiled and shook her head no, then climbed on top of him.

"I got the flowers. They made me very happy. You make me very happy."

Greg felt like he was being dragged into a whirlpool. His heart was beating like a jackhammer. He was completely naked, only a thin sheet between him and Ginny, who was right now straddling him, dressed only in a combination of cotton panties and camisole. She was smiling at him, her red hair falling around her beautiful face, touching him. She lowered her face and kissed him full on the mouth, slowly. He parted his lips and let her slip her tongue in, matching her rhythm. His erection was painfully hard but it was the best feeling of his life. His hands went automatically to her hips and she started a delicious rolling movement that made him moan. She took on that cue and increased her rhythm. He grabbed the back of her head and held her tight against him, desperately matching the rolling of her hips, unable to think. In his desperation, he couldn't withhold himself and he came, harder than ever in his life. For a minute he was unable to move, his cock still pulsing under the pressure of Ginny Weasley's body. When he finally came back to some of his senses he saw her flushed face and swollen lips and realized that he had shot his load like a freshly pubescent boy. He tried to say something

"Ginny, I…I…I…"

She smirked

"You have more where that came from?" she said, winking and performing a _Scurgify"_

He closed his eyes and decided to go with the truth

"I'm sorry. I have never felt anything like this before in my life, and I don't have experience, you know, doing this kind of stuff."

She smiled and kissed him

"This is my first time too. Maybe we should play it by ear?"

Greg smiled so wide that almost made his face hurt. He sat up and kissed Ginny deeply, sliding his hands under her camisole. She simply took it off and lift and shimmied herself to get off her panties, then slid the sheet that was between them. They looked at each other's naked bodies, mesmerized. She was lean and soft, her skin was like cream with some light freckles and her pink, perky nipples were the most mouthwatering thing Greg ever saw. He latched onto one of them while cupping the other breast with his large hand.

She felt tiny wrapped in his buff, muscular frame. He was already hard again and she rubbed her wet slit on him, making him hold tighter and a deep growl resonated in his chest like a lion. She grabbed the hair on the nape of his neck and wrapped her other arm around his massive shoulder to intensify the delicious movement while he kept sucking her nipples.

"Greg, I want you inside of me."

"You do it. I'm scared to hurt you."

She nodded and lift herself a bit to position him at her entrance. She felt the first ping of pain and stayed still, breathing deeply, looking into his eyes. He made a monumental effort and stayed still. It helped a bit that he had already come once but this feeling of her tight wetness slowly sliding on his rod was maddening. She continued the slow motion down until suddenly she let herself just drop. They both gasped loudly. She made a face, trapped between discomfort and extreme arousal.

"Ginny, baby, are you ok? Please tell me what do you need?"

"Just stay here with me," she said, and he kissed her for a long time. After a bit, she slowly moved her hips. The slow rocking motion gave them the most intoxicating feeling either of them had experience. She automatically lowered her hand to her clit and massaged it the way she liked it. He almost lost it when he saw that, holding on for dear life and when she suddenly moaned very loud and her walls clenched, squeezing him, he saw colors behind his eyelids and pulsed so hard he almost fainted. He fell back on the bed and she collapsed on top of him, letting him slip out. When he came back he saw the most beautiful red hair in the world spread over his chest and he had to hold onto his restrictive pureblood upbringing to keep quiet because all he wanted was to ask Ginny Weasley to marry him and beg her to never leave him. Instead, he ran his long fingers through that silky hair. He thought that this must be what heaven feels like. She lifted her face and crossed her arms over his chest, resting her chin on them, looking him in the eyes.

"I love you, Greg."

"I love you, Ginny."

Back at the heads quarters, Draco opened the door of his room slowly. He saw Hermione in his bed, covered only to her navel with the soft sheets, one arm over her head, the other holding the book against her breasts. He felt torn between just grabbing a sit and watch her for hours or making love to the beautiful vision. His desire won. He took off all of his clothes, slowly put away the book, then pulled down the sheets and sat on the bed next to her legs. He lowered his face and pillowed a soft kiss on her pubis. She moved sensually in her sleep. He did it again and lightly licked the warm and wet slit. She awoke with a sharp breath intake and looked down. Draco Malfoy's gorgeous grey eyes were looking at her from down there and she felt his mouth now more firmly savoring her. Her head rolled back, her legs spread on their own and her hips pushed forward to try and feel more. He obliged and followed his desire to devour her. When she came he had to hold onto her hips to not get knocked out by the strength of her desperate movements. He climbed on top of her and while she kissed and licked him, aroused by the taste of herself on his lips, he penetrated her and pound like a madman. She screamed his name over and over again, bringing him to the edge, and he pulsed inside of her, sweet relief running through his whole body.

He slid next to her and pulled her into a cocoon in his arms. After they caught their breath he smirked and said

"Guess who I just caught out of bed."


	8. Chapter 8

When the holidays came the couples were very reluctant to separate. Draco would be allowed a visit to his mother on Christmas Eve, but he was not permitted to spend the length of holidays there, not that he really wanted to. He was happy that his mother was not staying at the Manor right now, she was at the winter cottage in Falmouth, and she had rekindled her relationship with her sister Andromeda, so she was not as lonely as Draco had feared. Still, he just wanted to spend time with his girlfriend. So Hermione had requested the Ministry to make her temporary guardian of Draco, as she was of age (she loved to quip that she was older and therefore Draco had to do as she said), and they provided a floo connection and anti-muggle wards to her parents' house. Her parents were still in Australia, and she had explained to Draco what she had done to protect them. She was still afraid of the whole process of restoring their memories and Draco had offered to help her research the best way to do it, but for now, they would be on their own. Draco was elated, he was very excited to see the house where she had grown up in and was now not only at ease with the idea of muggles and the muggle world, he was anxious to discover it.

The house was comfortable and charming, but far from the luxury that Draco was used to. When they arrived he couldn't control himself and started exploring the space in a very un-Slytherin way. He froze in front of a picture of an eleven-year-old Hermione, in her Hogwarts uniform, ready to board the train. He felt a knot in his throat and blinked rapidly to diffuse the tears that prickled his eyes. She looked at him curiously

"What is it?"

He sigh

"I was so stupid. I wasted so much time. Time that I could have been happy. With you."

She smiled and rubbed his arm

"Be realistic baby. We would have always been us, even without the bitter rivalry. We both needed to go through hell and back to finally see each other."

He turned around to face her and wrapped her in a deep kiss. She squirmed a little.

"What?"

She giggled

"I have never kissed a boy in this house. I'm not sure if I am allowed," she said laughing.

She introduced him to movies and take out, and taught him basic household charms so they could survive without elves. It was a glorious holiday.

Ginny for her part was very nervous about her holiday. She knew Greg wanted to spend time with her but she had not wrapped her head around how. His father was in Azkaban as a convicted Death Eater but his mother had never participated in any dark activities, and he talked about her with great fondness. In the end, Ginny accepted his invitation to come to his house on Christmas eve. Ginny's impression from what he had shared was that his father was a social climber that had imposed an arranged marriage on his pureblood wife to increase his standing in wizarding society but had always treated both her and their son as burdens. Mrs. Goyle turned out to be a shy, demurred woman that was brought to tears when she saw how much in love her son was and how much a stunning witch like Ginny cared for him. She had feared that her son was going to end up dead or in prison in a desperate attempt to impress his monster of a father, and instead, he had not only been saved but he was going to have a career and, hopefully, a good witch by his side.

Ginny had also talked to her parents and siblings about her relationship. They were disapproving at the beginning, but then Hermione had come to visit, bringing Draco with her. The Malfoy heir behaved like the princeling he was and, in a very Slytherin move, he made sure Molly became fond of him. It was a very smart move. In the Burrow what the matriarch said goes, and by the end of the visit she had everyone on a short leash. Ginny felt encouraged and brought Greg home on Boxing day. The gentle giant followed his friends' advice and showered Molly with attention, which was an easy task because Molly's maternal instinct made her melt at that and she, in turn, treated him like another one of her children. They asked him to stay until the New Year and by the end of the visit, he got the most precious gift of his life: a Weasley sweater.

After they came back from the holidays, the Headmistress called the All-Star team to her office. They were all a bit nervous and it didn't help that McGonagall's face was very tense. What they didn't notice was that her tension was an effort to withhold a grin and a huge excitement that threatened to burst out of her and flood the room.

"The Irish National team is preparing for the World Cup and they have challenged the Hogwarts All-Star team to a friendly match. Are you all up for the challenge?"

The students stood frozen for a few heartbeats before they all yelled and howled excitedly, jumping and hugging each other. Ginny lost all composure and jumped to hug the Headmistress, who was now sporting a smile from ear to ear. The older witch was momentarily taken aback but she not only allowed it, but she also offered a quick hug and a word of congratulation to each member of the team. Minerva McGonagall had been an excellent player back in the day when she attended Hogwarts and she was a consummated Quidditch fan. To have her students play against the World Champions was a huge honor.

The team had been playing wearing a simple black and white uniform. McGonagall surprised them with new uniforms that had all the black parts made of leather, including the whole chest plate, and had the Hogwarts coat of arms over the heart, giving them a more impressive appearance. The female players' uniform followed the shape of their bodies, and when Greg saw Ginny wearing hers he thought that she looked like an Amazon warrior. That made him feel very much hot under the collar.

That night they shared the news with their friends. Greg said

"We should make an entrance, you know, show the student body that we are not afraid of the pros."

Ginny thought about that for a minute, then replied with a smile

"I need to talk to my brother George. He definitely knows how to put on a show."

A couple of weeks later the All-Stars met with the Irish to welcome them to the School, and the guest team gladly accepted the invitation to perform a little prelude to the game that night at the Feast.

That night the atmosphere in the Great Hall was electric. A charmed Quidditch trunk provided by Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was placed in front of the staff table. The doors of the hall opened up and the Irish team walked in, marching like a small army, their brooms rhythmically hitting the floor every couple of steps like war lances. They walked to the front of the room and one of the beaters stood in front of the trunk while the other players aligned themselves at both sides. They faced the students and bowed, receiving a loud applause and cheers. Then the Headmistress signaled for silence and the candles dimmed. At that cue, the professors all hit the table rhythmically like war drums. The students followed their lead. The doors opened and the Hogwarts All-Star team walked in, also hitting the floor with their brooms, and they aligned themselves at the beginning of the central hallway. Gregory Goyle mounted his broom and positioned himself hovering over his teammates.

The Irish beater opened the trunk and multiple charmed bludgers floated out of it. Then he mounted his broom and hit them one by one towards the Hogwarts team. Greg flew back and forward in front of his teammates and one by one beat back the bludgers and then started to fly in a zigzag pattern towards the Irish player, who kept increasing the speed of his bat. When Greg passed the halfway mark of the hall he doubled the force that he used to hit each bludger, making them explode into multicolored fireworks. The crowd cheered and awed with each blow and at the end, the two beaters crossed hit their bats like swords and the impact caused a wave of blue magic to resonate on the whole room. The hall exploded in applause and cheers. The two beaters landed, shook hands and hug and then turned to bow to the loud crowd. Greg walked back down the middle corridor towards his teammates while the whole school banged the tables and chanted

"Goyle! Goyle! Goyle!

Greg had a huge smile on his face and a knot in his throat. He never dreamed that he could be someone the whole school would get behind. As rehearsed, he approached his team captain and shook her hand, then high five the rest of the team. When they took a final bow and broke formation he ran back to the captain, pulled her up in his arms, kissed her and then rested his forehead on hers.

"You are the reason why all of this is happening. Thank you, thank you so much, my love."

The game was spectacular. The All-Star gave the Irish a run for their galleons, and the pros were able to win only because their seeker caught the snitch. All through the game, Ginny had been unstoppable, scoring like she was playing in her backyard. When the Irish tried to focus their beaters on her to try to slow her down they were met with the impenetrable wall that was Greg protecting the teammate that also happened to be his girlfriend. The Irish didn't have a prayer, and even after catching the snitch they win by only 50 points. Unbeknownst to Ginny, Gwenog Jones was on the bleachers, scouting for the Holyhead Harpies. After the game was over and while the crowd was still jubilant the veteran player got ahold of Ginny and offered her a trial season with the Harpies on the spot.


	9. Chapter 9

Epilogue

Five years later.

Draco Malfoy shook hands all around the luxurious box of the stadium while following his wife, the head of International Magical Cooperation, who was required to stop and chat with every dignitary present.

"Bet you could not get us better seats than these, Malfoy. Pays to be married to an influential woman. This is as good as it gets," said Harry Potter, teasing him while he picked two glasses of firewhiskey from a levitating tray and offered one to the blonde.

"Shut it, Potter. My wife may be the one that gets the best seats, but I was the one who got you a wife," Draco said, raising his glass in a toast.

Harry smirked and chuckled. Four years ago, in yet one more strange twist of faith, Hermione had named one bridesmaid, Ginny, and one bridesman, Harry, to her wedding. Draco, on the other hand, decided to match her up and named Greg his best man and asked Pansy Parkinson to be a groomswoman. When Pansy found out who she was walking the aisle with she took the opportunity to write a letter to Harry apologizing for their nasty history and expressing hopes for a newfound friendship. Harry wrote back accepting her apology, but when they met for the rehearsal dinner he realized friendship was not going to cut it.

Pansy had finished her schooling at Ilvermorny and then stayed in New York at a school of Magical Fashion Design, and now that she was back in England she was a breath of fresh air. She was now open and liberal in a very American way, but she kept a stripe of Slytherin mischievousness to her. And it didn't hurt that she had grown into her features and was now a gorgeous young woman with big dark eyes and an adorable turned up nose. The night of the rehearsal she repeated her apology in person and people saw them sitting alone on a table on the corner, where she seemed to be tearing up while Harry hugged her sweetly. The day of the wedding they were all stolen gazes and flirtatious smiles during the ceremony, danced all night and then rumor has it that she didn't spend that night in her own room at the posh hotel where the wedding was held. One year later, Harry proposed.

The two men took a seat on the luxurious leather armchairs but Draco was too busy following his wife with his eyes like a hawk. At that moment Pansy walked in, sat on her husband's lap and kissed him and then followed her friend's gaze. She chuckled.

"Someone is jealous. Afraid of a little bit of competition, Draco?" she said wiggling her eyebrows mischievously while her husband laughed at her quip.

"Jealous? Me? Of that oaf? Never!" Draco said, unconvincingly.

"I thought Viktor was your friend, from back in school," she said, smirking and throwing some more salt in the metaphoric wound.

"That was before he started sending my wife an unnecessary number of owls with the excuse of the World Cup organization. We are not even the hosting country this year, neither is Bulgaria. Keep it in your pants, Krum!" he scoffed into his firewhisky glass.

Harry and Pansy awed and laughed. Draco was crazy about his wife and it was very hard for him every time someone flirted with her. Pansy knew that Hermione had been very clear with Viktor about not being available, but the two girls had agreed to let the curly witch's husband sweat a little. It was good for him to not forget what he had at home.

When Hermione was done with the formalities and the guests at the box were all happily drowning their firewhisky tumblers and not paying much attention to anything else she approached her husband and tried to take a seat next to him. He pulled her on his lap and shamelessly put one hand on her arse and with the other grabbed the back of her hair and pulled her for a kiss and nibbled her neck, obviously trying to leave a love bite.

"Draco Malfoy are you marking your territory?" she asked mischievously.

"You bet your gorgeous arse I am. Now enough work for one day. Let's get drunk and watch our friends win this match."

Hermione smiled and kissed him passionately until the Potters interrupted them with catcalls and yells of "yeah girl, ride that stallion" and "get a room or share the wealth." The Malfoys rolled their eyes and composed themselves before their friends got even more raunchy.

The _sonorous_ system on the British booth started up

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Berlin Stadium, to the opening game of the Quidditch World cup! My name is Lee Jordan and together with Seamus Finnigan we will be your commentators tonight."

"Thank you my friend, and here comes the English team! As you probably know, this team has an unprecedented lineup: a husband and wife playing together! Star beater Gregory Goyle, from the Wimbourne Wasps and lead chaser Ginevra Weasley-Goyle, from the Holyhead Harpies. Rumor has it that if you want to stay in your broom you keep your bludgers away from Goyle's wife. The Wimbourne Wall, as his fans know him, has very little tolerance for those messing with the gorgeous chaser. I wouldn't want to get between them, Lee."

"You got that right, Seamus. The combination of Weasley's speed and ability to score and Goyle's ability to keep her path clear makes this one of the best teams England has had in years."

Back in England, an unprecedented gathering was taking place at the Burrow. Two older Gryffindors and two older Slytherins were sitting by the wireless listening to the game while two toddlers flight on toy brooms. Molly and Arthur Weasley had invited Mrs. Goyle and Mrs. Parkinson to listen to the game while they all shared the babysitting of their grandchildren, James Potter-Parkinson and Liam Goyle-Weasley. Molly and Mrs. Goyle had grown very close, the shy woman had been very grateful to be welcomed into the family after the loneliness and fear that her horrible marriage had left her with. And Mrs. Parkinson was still a bit of a snob but in her opinion, the biggest accomplishment of her daughter's life had been to marry the Chosen One, so Molly was happy to have at home someone who would talk wonders about her surrogate son Harry and praise him non-stop.

Molly sigh

"All my sons played the game, but I will never get used to the fact that Ginny is the professional one, so much risk."

Mrs. Goyle patted her arm softly

"Fret not, dear. My Greg is right there with her, and he would put himself in the way of any bludger before letting anything happen to his beloved Ginny."

Molly squeezed the hand. Years ago when Ginny brought home Greg they were very hesitant. The son of a Death Eater, a known school bully. It took Molly only a few hours of watching Greg follow Ginny around like a lost puppy to understand that the boy was good at heart. When she met Mrs. Goyle the woman confessed that having her criminal of a husband locked in Azkaban had been the biggest blessing of their lives. Her son was free to be himself and he found Ginny. That was more than the poor woman ever dared to dream of. At that moment little James fell off his toy broom. All the grandparents moved but they were not fast enough. With a small hop, Liam got off his broom and picked up James, who was at the brink of tears until his pint-sized friend hugged him and clumsily patted his head. Arthur Weasley cleared his throat and quickly ran to the kitchen mumbling something about more tea before the tears prickling his eyes run down. The grandmothers didn't feel the need to mask their emotions. Their grandchildren were a symbol of hope and of life coming full circle, with second chances for all.

Back in Berlin after a phenomenal game, England won by an amazing 350 points. After the celebrations, Gregory Goyle cornered his wife in the locker room showers. They had both undressed already and were wearing only towels.

"I flew like a maniac too keep up with you and even took a bludger straight to my body for you, witch. Time to get my reward."

Ginny smirked and let her towel fell to the floor.

"Take whatever you want, Big Bear."

The End


End file.
